walkin 18...

well, today, i caddied for a really good friend of mine,
that was trying to qualify for a pga event next week...
he did well...but we missed the cut for the monday qualifier...
get this...
by one stroke.
yes...that is a heartbreaker!
but there are some good things that came from it...
in golf, just as it is in life...
we have to learn from all things...
and most of the time...
when we don't succeed in doing something...
we learn more.
if we don't learn more, then most likely, we're just not paying close enough attention...or more like, we're not being truly honest with ourselves...
about who we are, how hard we're working, or what we may need to change.
yes, honesty, is definitely the best policy...
but that doesn't ever make it easier, does it?
sometimes with honesty...
we must treat it like a bandaid...
just rip it off...
it will hurt at first,
but then the pain begins to subside,
and you will heal and be okay,
as long as you quit scratching and picking at it.
so, basically, the learning that went on in the round today,
can most definitely be compared to how we live our lives.
first of all...my friend improved on his scores that he's had the last several times we've gone to qualifiers...and yes...that's easy to see and quantify because it's a number.
but
the reasons for this number being lower are the lessons.
when he got in trouble...
he fought his way through it, he scraped and scrapped.
two bad holes in a row, in the past,
got into his head and he couldn't move passed it.
this time...he took a deep breath...and moved forward and didn't let himself get down.
he just kept playing.
he made long putts under pressure,
and used his head when before he may have tried to force something that just wasn't there.
at the end of the day...
we walked away disappointed that we missed it...
but also proud that there were so many great things about the round.
so, you see,
sometimes,
even when we're not getting exactly what we're striving for...
there's always something you can take with you,
for the next time.
one can learn a lot about themselves through struggle.
about the kind of person you are...
and
the kind of person you want to be.
as we drove home today,
and talked about the round...
the putts,
the drives,
the chips,
the saves,
there was one thing that we just kept saying...
it's gonna happen...you're gonna make it...you're getting closer.
you just have to believe in yourself,
and know that each shot you come upon...
you have the ability to hit...you have it right there in your bag.
funny how close to life that really is, isn't it?
some say that we are never given anything we can't handle...
that life is what we make of it...
that we create our own destiny.
if that is true...
then each day is kinda like a qualifying round for the next day...
and each shot we come to,
we have in our bag...
we just have to commit to what we know we can do...
just believe...
and hit it.